Academic Planning

• The Gifted and Talented Program at the secondary school level serves students primarily through the Honors and Advanced Placement Program. Honors courses are offered beginning in the sixth grade. These courses meet the needs of gifted students by modifying the depth, complexity, and pacing of the general school program.
• Honors courses are available in the four core academic areas of language arts, mathematics, science and social studies. These classes provide a rigorous course of study for highly capable and motivated students. Students learn the skills and performance expectations necessary for success in Advanced Placement (AP) courses offered in high school.
• Advanced Placement (AP) courses allow students to earn college credit while still enrolled in high school. Based upon an examination taken at the end of the course, a college may grant from 3 to 12 semester hours of credit.
• Honors courses focus on the development of student potential. Prerequisite skills for students enrolling in Honors courses include: strong problem solving ability, good writing skills, organizational skills, and creative thinking skills. Honors students are highly motivated and enjoy a challenge.
• Students not formally identified as Gifted and Talented may also enroll in Honors courses.

Advanced Placement Program

• A major feature of LFCISD secondary Gifted and Talented Program is the Advanced Placement (AP) program of courses. This program allows students to pursue college-level studies while still in secondary school, and to receive advanced placement, dual credit, or both, in college. The AP Program provides acceleration and in-depth learning, rewards achievement, and it enhances both high school and college programs.
• Students demonstrate scholarship on national and international academic levels. By taking an AP examination, students may compare their knowledge and understanding of a college-level subject with the high academic standards established by a college faculty. Whether the student gains college credit or not in the examination, the experience of attempting challenging college-level work will benefit the student when he/she enters college.
• Students study in greater depth. Students who take AP courses develop analytical reasoning skills, form disciplined study habits and research concepts in greater depth and breadth than is possible through regular high school courses.
• Students improve their chances of being accepted by the college of their choice. College admissions officers give AP course work significant weight when reviewing transcripts from admission and scholarships.
• Students are often given credit for introductory courses at college and may even achieve sophomore standing. Every college determines its own policy for granting credits, but many colleges award credit up to 12 hours for grades 3, 4, or 5 on the AP exam.
• Students are eligible to earn AP Scholar Awards. These awards recognize high school students who have demonstrated college level achievement on several AP exams.
• Teachers are offered professional training. The College Board sponsors workshops that are attended by an average of 18,000 teachers each year.
• Schools demonstrate desired outcomes. The National Educational Goals Panel uses AP as a measure of academic excellence. Schools with successful AP programs are regarded as strong academic institutions, and their participation in the AP Programs helps set an academic tone for students and contributes to the faculty's professional pride.